U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Calexico West Port of Entry

PatieNce ReNeé (PReCioUS)

I thought by remodeling the border it was to help things move along smoothly and cut the wait time back but it seems to have done the opposite

Gilbert Portugal Sr.

Very fast in the AM I got tagged to go into secondary.

M&M

DONT FOLLOW GOOGLE DIRECTIONS! These are directions for a SENTRI ONLY lane which you CAN'T drive out of or back out of cause cops like to camp there to get money out of people. You MAY BE FINED up $5,000 USD if you dont have Sentri and take this exit, minimum they'll give you a warning on record, so if you do it again you'll be fined money. THE EXIT>>> Go to the road named Cristóbal Colón road aka Línea internacional in google. Turn west and follow it straight to west Port. If you want theres there's also The East port; closes at 2pm. You can only use Sentri w/ out a pass in the case of an Emergency, like a heart attack etc.

Bill Bailey

Watch for line scammers. I was in line and these guys (about 4 of them) told me I was in wrong line and needed to be another line. They were very insistant and this was first time at this crossing so I fell for it. The one guy jumped on the hood of my car and other 3 separated traffic as I had to turn around to try to get into another lane. Bit of a hassle but managed. After I was in the other lane these guys said this would cost me $60usd. I denied paying them and they started to create a scene mock dialing the police. I pulled out my cell camera and pointed it in there direction and they immediately hide their faces and scrabbled away. After the long 3 hour wait in line (it was a Thursday afternoon) I asked the border agent about that other line - she said that was also correct line. It was about 102F so you want to make sure you have enough fuel and patience for it. Lots of vendors and beggars. Even a pregnant lady about to drop with baby in arms in the hot sun begging. Very sad to see. They should have permanent police presence to prevent the scammers and beggars putting children at risk of sun stroke. The vendors should be managed and given badges like you see in many tourist locations. As for the border crossing they should have more lanes open and system to better expedite the crossing. The 3 hour wait seemed poorly managed.